


Shield

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: Fraxus [14]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Blood and Injury, Character Death, Death, Established Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Goodbyes, Heavy Angst, Les Amis de l'ABC - Freeform, Love, M/M, Promises, Protectiveness, Sacrifice, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-20 21:38:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16563587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: Years ago Freed had made a promise to protect Laxus, to be the Dragon-slayer's shield if neccessary. Now it's time to keep his word, but not because of that promise...not because of blind obligation, but because of who Laxus had become and what he meant to the Rune mage





	Shield

   Freed was breathing heavily as he dropped down onto one knee, pressing a hand to the deep wound on his side. _I was careless_ , he scowled as he pulled his fingers away and studied the crimson staining his skin, cursing under his breath as he realised that it was far more serious than he’d initially thought and his expression darkened. He should never have been caught out by such an attack, but as always when they found themselves in a battle, his attention hadn’t been on his own surroundings but rather than on the broad back of the Lightning Dragon-slayer. Deep down he knew it was foolish, and that the promise he had made to always protect Laxus had been rendered null and void because the Dragon-slayer was not the same vulnerable teenager that he had made the promise about. This Laxus was stronger than all of them put together, and more than capable of protecting himself. _But…_

“I made a promise,” he whispered softly, lips quirking slightly as he recalled how annoyed Laxus had been when he learnt that Makarov had asked Freed to watch over him - to be a shield if necessary. It had been one of the only times they had argued in all these years together, but despite his angry protests and unwillingness to accept Freed’s help, Laxus had never been able to push him away entirely, and that had been before they had become friends. Before they had become mates. Pressing his hand back to his side, he gripped his sword tightly before pushing himself back to his feet with a quiet groan.

_I won’t break that promise now…_

   It took a worrying amount of effort, but he managed to erect a rune barrier around his side, hoping that it would help protect the wound from further damage. Fully aware that if Laxus or the others for that matter knew that he was injured they would force him to stay behind them and he wasn’t about to let that happen. _I can still fight. I can still protect him_. Once the runes were in place, he wiped his hand against his coat, hoping that the colour of the material would hide the evidence that he was bleeding, before turning his attention back to the fight raging around him. It was supposed to have been a relatively simple job. Just take out a small guild that had been terrorising some of the local towns, only the small guild had turned out not to be so small as they had been led to believe, and not as weak as anticipated. Although despite their numbers they were slowly but steadily falling under their combined efforts, but not without cost as the burning pain in his side reminded him.

   It didn’t take him long to locate Evergreen and Bickslow, pleased to note that they were both fighting back to back and covering each other’s weak spots, something that it had taken him a long time to drill into their heads. Often the pair tended to be too independent-minded and more than once they had wound up in a sticky situation because they were too focused on what they were doing, and not paying attention to what was going on around them. They made a good team. A mage loomed up to his right and Freed whirled to face him. Cursing himself for not following his own advice about paying attention to his surroundings, blade flashing as he blocked the attack before dropping the man with a well-placed blow to the temple as he could feel his magic already beginning to flag, and he glanced briefly down at his side.

_How long can I keep fighting like this?_

   Shoving that thought to the back of his mind, along with the small voice that sounded suspiciously like a certain worried Dragon-slayer that told him he was being an idiot, and that he didn’t need to push himself so hard. _Yes, I do…as long as they’re fighting…as long as Laxus is fighting, I have to keep going._ Taking a deep breath, he turned, seeking out the Lightning mage, alarmed to realise that there was no sign of his mate and he bit back a curse. He should never have let himself get distracted. Laxus had a bad habit of losing track of what was happening around him when he was fighting, and the idiot had probably not even realised that he had gone off on his own and his expression tightened. _I’m supposed to be by his side_.

    Downing another mage he pushed his way through towards the other two, carefully keeping his body tilted to the side so that they wouldn’t notice his injury. They weren’t quite as bad as Laxus, but he knew that they would try and get him out of the fight if they knew that he was injured. _As they should,_ the sensible part of him whispered, and he ignored it.

“Bickslow! Ever! Where is Laxus?”

“He was heading for the guild building!” Evergreen replied, smoothly ducking out of the way of Bickslow’s dolls before removing her glasses and freezing the mages in place, smirking at them before turning back to Freed and noticing the worried expression on his face. “Go we can easily handle things here!” Freed visibly hesitated for a moment, as much as he had faith in their abilities, and it was hard to deny that they could handle themselves given the growing number of mages on the ground around them. Still, he didn’t like it when they got separated, especially after all the situations they’d found themselves in over the last few months. However, his concern for the Dragon-slayer and the promise echoing in the back of his mind forced his hand, and he nodded.

“Thank you,” he muttered before turning and bolting in the other direction, an uneasy feeling that he had been trying to ignore blossoming in his stomach as the pain in his side threatened to send him crashing to his knees once more.

_Not yet, I have to get to Laxus…just hold out a little longer…_

**

   It had been a long time since he had been able to fight all out like this, and Laxus couldn’t keep the wild grin off his face as his lightning crackled around him. He knew that Freed hadn’t been overly happy when they had discovered the job was more than they had been told, but this was much more up his street, and while he had grumbled about it he was sure that the Rune mage was fully aware that he was going to enjoy this. The younger man had always been able to read him from the moment they first met. Back then he had resented it, now though it made his lips quirk up into a fond smile at the thought of his partner. _Freed…_ He glanced around, blinking as he realised that he had drifted away from where they had been fighting and that there was no sign of Freed, and he blanched as he realised he had managed to lose him.

   He had always preferred fighting alone, even when on team missions he had preferred to have his own area, but at some point, he had grown used to having Freed right there behind him. Especially since they had progressed beyond friends, and he found himself desperately wanting to ensure that the Freed was safe, even though he knew better than anyone that the younger man was fully capable of keeping them all safe. It had been Freed after all that had managed to drag them all back to the guild after Tempesta had taken them down, even though he had been just as infected as the rest of them. Something that Freed had adamantly refused to accept praise for, but that Laxus and the rest of the Raijinshuu had never been able to forget, knowing that if he had faltered or fallen back then, then none of them would be here.

   Some of the joy had gone out of the fight now that he had realised Freed wasn’t there, and he half-heartedly sent a couple of mages flying into the far wall before beginning to turn. _Freed. I need to find Freed…_ He was doing the one thing that Freed had made him promise never to do, getting distracted by his mate, but he couldn’t help it, uneasiness creeping in. _Where are you?_ He was just beginning to move back in the direction he had come from when he felt an ominous build-up of magic behind him, it was more powerful than anything he had encountered so far from the guild, and he could feel the hairs standing up on his arms as he turned around.

“Shit,” he cursed as he found himself staring virtually straight down the barrel of a cannon, freezing as he took in the magic gathering at its nose. _How the hell did they get something like that?_ He recognised it as being akin to the Jupiter Cannon that the others had told him about, and his eyes narrowed, _if that got past him…_ there was no telling how much damage a blast from that thing could cause, and his teammates were somewhere out there and could be caught in the devastation. The ominous feeling grew even as he propelled himself forwards, a half-formed idea of tearing it apart in the back of his mind as the cannon fired, and his eyes widened in alarm as he realised that he wasn’t going to make it in time. _What the hell was I thinking getting distracted like that?_

“LAXUS!” Something slammed into his side, shoving him out of the way just as the cannon blast shot through the air where his head had been a moment before, but whatever relief he had felt at the near miss disappeared as someone screamed and a warm weight settled on his back. For a moment he lay there stunned, cursing himself for allowing himself to get so carried away. _Damn it Freed warned me about getting distracted._ However, that thought was washed away as his nose caught a familiar scent and ice crept through his body. _No…_ He already knew what he was going to find, his senses had never failed him before, but it didn’t make it any easier to take in the distinctive green hair or pained turquoise eyes that met his frantic gaze as he turned. _No…please…no_ …

“Freed?” It came out as a choked whisper, his hands trembling as he rearranged them both, cradling the Rune mage against him with a gentleness that he would only ever show the younger man, panicking when Freed’s eyes drifted shut, and he swallowed as he felt the blood soaking through the others coat. Carefully he checked for injuries, finding the one on Freed’s side and feeling the weak barrier that was erected around it and scowling as he realised what that meant. _You came for me even though you were already hurt_ …

    But that wasn’t the only wound, and his stomach dropped as his searching fingers felt the long gash down the other’s back - the injury that he knew had come from protecting him. _You idiot…_ “FREED?” He blinked back sudden tears when Freed immediately responded to his frantic voice, forcing his eyes open and stirring weakly as though he was trying to sit up and the Dragon-slayer’s heart fell when he slumped against him a moment later, well aware that Freed hated showing any weakness to him.

“I…told you…not to get carried away,” Freed scolded softly, hating the fact that he lacked the strength to even sit up, wanting to do it even though he knew it would make his injuries worse, just needing to do something to ease the panic on his mate’s voice. _You’re not meant to look like that_ , with a tremendous amount of effort he managed to force his lips into a weak smile, reaching up to brush shaking fingers against Laxus’ cheek. “Idiot…” _You’re safe… that’s all that matters_ …He didn’t need the panic on the Dragon-slayer’s face to know that it was bad, he could feel his strength slipping away, and he knew that no amount of runes were going to buy him time now. _I’m sorry, but I can’t regret it_ …He hadn’t even stopped to think about it, moving without thought the moment he had seen the cannon aimed at Laxus’ back. He’d cast runes at the cannon to destroy it even as he’d moved,  knowing that it wouldn’t be enough to stop the blast that had been released.

_I kept my promise…I protected him…I was his shield…_

“Freed,” Laxus breathed, stiffening as he felt the runes around Freed’s original wound disappearing, and he pulled his partner closer as Freed wasn’t completely successful in holding in a whimper of pain, and hating himself he struggled to try and put pressure on it. “Shit. What the hell were you doing still fighting?” _It’s not enough…Freed’s_ coat was already soaked through with blood, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he burrowed his face into the crook of his mate’s neck. _What were you thinking? Why did you throw yourself in the way…?_ Deep down he knew he would have done the same in a heartbeat, but that didn’t make this situation any easier to accept, and his arms tightened around Freed - around his mate, and this time he couldn’t stop the tears that slipped down his cheeks.

_Freed…_

“I had to watch your back,” Freed replied softly, his hand falling away as he lost the strength to hold it up even longer and he was relieved when Laxus caught it, the blond’s large hand warm around his and helping to keep him grounded as the world span for a moment. _This is bad_ …Blinking he managed to bring Laxus’s face back into focus, his own eyes beginning to sting with tears as he realised that the Dragon-slayer was crying. _It really must be bad…please don’t cry…I don’t mind this_. “P-promised…” But it was more than that. It hadn’t been about the promise for a long time now. He hadn’t thrown himself into the path of the blast just because of obligation, he had done it to protect his Laxus. To protect the man who was willing to spend hours exploring dusty bookshops with him even though he had no interest in collecting books himself. Who would spend hours at his bedside when he was ill or injured, whose warm arms drove the nightmares around with no effort at all…the man whose lips were currently pressed softly against his, and he blinked in surprise. _Laxus…_

“Freed,” Laxus’s voice was thick when they pulled apart, blue eyes filled with such love and anguish that Freed felt his breath catch in his throat, and this time it was his tears that escaped, and he closed his eyes, turning to hide his face against the Dragon-slayer’s chest. _I don’t want to lose this…_ However, he knew that it wasn’t a choice anymore, the world was slowly fading away from him as his strength slipped away, and desperately he clutched at the Dragon-slayer’s shirt. _Laxus,  I’m scared…_ It took all his strength to push himself away enough to peer up at Laxus, struggling to bring his face into focus again, the tears now blurring his vision not helping matters.

“Lax..us…I…”

“Shh don’t speak,” Laxus whispered frantically, but there was an awful look of comprehension on the Dragon-slayer’s face that told him that he knew what was coming. That saving his strength wasn’t going to be any use at this point, and Freed shook his head weakly, sucking in a small breath as he fought to get his voice to work again.

“I…Love…you…” He hadn’t said it enough, he realised bitterly. They were always so busy, so rushed, and he had always got caught up in his own rules, and fresh tears escaped as he realised that he wasn’t going to get a chance to make up for that failure. “I don’t…regret…this…” _I regret many things, but not this…_ His eyes were drifting shut again, and he was vaguely aware of the lips that were gently pressed against his once more and the soft voice that whispered in his ear just before his awareness slipped away entirely.

“I love you too…”

_I kept my promise…_


End file.
